Iron Man (Marvel)
|origin = Tales of Suspense #39 (1963) |occupation = |skills = |hobby = Spending time with his friends |goals = To protect New York City from evil threats and villains |family = |friends = |enemies = |type of hero = Mechanically Modified Hero}} Iron Man (real name Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is the titular main protagonist of the comic series Iron Man, one of the titular protagonists in The Avengers, and is a superhero in the Marvel comics and universe. Throughout most of the character's publication history, Iron Man has been a founding member of the superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. Iron Man has been adapted for several animated TV shows and films. Iron Man was portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man was created by the late Stan Lee, the late Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber and Don Heck. Background Stark: an inventive genius, industrialist, and multi-billionaire, went to Vietnam to oversee a field test for one of his transistorized weapons, that his company-Stark Industries made. While there he accidentally stepped on a bobby trap, and a piece of shrapnel became lodged in his chest. Injured, Stark was captured by Communist forces under Wong-Chu, and was made a prisoner. While in prison, Tony created a mechanical suit of armor so that he could escape, as well as using his technological know-how to create a pace-maker like device to keep his heart beating and thus, Stark could stay alive. Using the Iron Man Armor, Stark was able to escape the Communist forces, and once back in America, he perfected his work, making a practically invincible iron suit much like he has today and started saving the world from various threats. Biography Birth and Adoption Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born to two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Jude and Amanda Armstrong, but Jude was secretly a double-agent who fell in love with Amanda. The two began a relationship and she became pregnant, and Jude revealed his true allegiance, and the discussion escalated with Amanda killing Jude. After birthing her child in a local hospital, Amanda asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to ensure her baby would be safe, but Nick Fury followed the procedure of unwanted pregnancies and left him in an orphanage in Sofia, Bulgaria. Fury's associate Howard Stark learned of the child, and decided to find the baby and adopt him, and kept the name Amanda wished he retained, Anthony. In reality, Howard and his wife Maria needed a healthy boy to act as a decoy in place of their firstborn, Arno Stark, who's birth was difficult, and was made possible with the help of the robot, Rigellian Recorder 451. Arno became ill afterward due to Howard interact with 451's machinations, as the robot had genetically modified the baby, and put somewhat of a kill switch. The Starks decided to keep Arno hidden in the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice, and adopted Tony to fill in the void and prevent 451 from learning of Howard's meddling if he returned. The Starks kept Tony's first name, and presumably gave him the middle name Edward from Howard's brother. Early Childhood Tony lived with his adopted parents in Stark Manner in New York City, and was completely unaware of his biological parents or Arno. Howard and Maria lived a busy life, leaving Tony in care of the family butler Edwin Jarvis. Maria loved Tony unconditionally, but Howard and Tony had a strained relationship, due to his alcoholism, pressure from his work, and Tony's sensitive and reclusive nature battling Howard's glorification and physical prowess. Howard saw Tony as a weakling, and would often berate his adopted son for any infraction, sometimes leading to verbal abuse due to mood swings. Howard's abusive nature was even had a mantra that he would tell a young Tony, stating that "Stark men were made of iron." Despite his abuse, Howard did care for Tony, educating his adopted son, and showed care and love on occasions. As a result of Howard's abuse and with his adoptive parents being mostly busy, Tony turned towards electronics as a coping mechanism when he was around five years old. He preferred to around technology, as he believed hardware to be reliable and comprehensible, as people were unpredictable. He also began reading tales of King Arthur, which became an obsession for Tony, and he later put a model of the iron men from the tales. Tony had his first alcoholic drink when he was young, as Howard forced him to drink a glass of bourbon during Christmas Eve. He also had a pet dog named Leo, and cried when he died, causing Howard to yell at him, as Jarvis encouraged Tony to use his grief in more positive ways. This would make Tony see inventing as a way to deal with pain and loss, something that would show as he got older. Around this time, Tony started to take an interest in girls, and had a girlfriend that was a relationship of childhood innocence. When Tony was seven years old, Howard sent him to a private boarding school to toughen him, much to Maria's dismay. There, Tony learned of discipline and strength, but was bullied by his peers and mocked by teachers who saw him as too childish. Despite his, Tony spent most of his time reading alone, and would continue to enjoy stories about King Arthur, and took interest in other historical figures such as Marco Polo, Vasco da am and the Wright Brothers. He also became friends with Tiberius Stone, and the two developed a friendly competition in athletics and academics. During his youth, he became a well known genius, and gained attention from a girl named Jules, but also gained the ire of Miles who was Tony's second. Adolescent Years After boarding school, Tony breezed through high school, and became his classes valedictorian and later joined an undergraduate program at MIT. He effortlessly graduated and double majored in physics and engineering, but became board and felt things were too easy for him. Tony later went to a Dr. Derenik Zadian talk at Oxford University, and met another student named Bruce Banner. The two became rivals lifelong scientific rivals, and the two became close, but their different backgrounds caused them to drift apart. During this time, Tony began a relationship with Meredith McCall, the daughter of Creighton McCall, who was the competitor of Howard Stark. Meredith was Tony's first love, but both their parents disapproved of their relationship, and interfered with their relationship. Creighton later sent Meredith off to live with her parents, and later to a private school, hurting Tony. During his 20s, Tony became a thrill-seeker to search for a challenge in his life, and lost interest in skiing, parachuting, and hang-gliding after mastering those hobbies. Becoming CEO When he was twenty one, Howard and Maria died in a car crash, and he inherited Stark Industries and turned the company into a multinational corporation within years. Also, Tony bought the company that built the car his parents were driving, and fixed the flaws in their brake system. Despite becoming the CEO of a company that brought new challenges, he found the job less exited after the company began to grow. As a result, Tony squandered the company and it started to seeing cost overheads, but this was noticed and corrected by Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Afterward, Tony hired her and made her his personal secretary, and their relationship was mostly one-sided, as she had a crush on him, as Tony exploited her skills to keep the company aloft while he continued to party. Becoming Iron Man Tony continued leading Stark Industries to great heights, and would go on tours to see his technology be used in foreign countries. Most accounts state that Stark went to Southeast Asia, while another account states that he traveled to the Middle-East. During the tour, Tony tripped on a booby trap that lodged shrapnel in chest, and he was taken captive by the terrorist leader Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu falsely promised Tony that he if built a powerful weapon, he would be allowed to undergo an operation to save his life. Tony only agreed so that he could get access to tools, as he knew Wong-Chu was lying about saving his life. However, another account states that Ho Yinsen saved his life by doing surgery, and Wong-Chu offered Tony a chance to work for him, but he refused. Wong-Chu then ordered his men to beat Tony, causing the shrapnel to get closer to his heart, and Yinsen managed to convince Wong-Chu to stop, and that they would work on what he wanted. Once able to help Yinsen, Stark was given access small laboratory, and Tony designed and built an eclectically powered suit of armor that had a pacemaker-like device to keep his heart beating. After finishing the armor, Tony donned the suit and connected it an electrical generator for a power source. Yinsen sacrificed himself to distract Wong-Chu, who decided to check up on the prisoners, thus giving Tony more time to charge the suit. As Iron Man, Tony avenged Yinsen's death and defeated Wong-Chu's troops, and marched up to the front lines to escape enemy territories. While wandering, Iron Man encountered U.S. Marine Corps pilot James Rhodes, who's helicopter was shot down by rockets while on a mission. Tony helped Rhodes fight off enemy forces, and was allowed to drain the helicopter's batteries to recharge his armor. The two made it back to American forces, and stumbled upon a hidden rocket base, which they destroyed after stealing an enemy helicopter. Tony returned to the United States, and redesigned his chest plate, making it smaller so that he could wear under normal clothing. As a result of having to wear the armored chest late to keep his heart alive and beating, Tony decided to create more armors. After improving and redesigning his armor, he revealed it to the public, but didn't reveal it's origin and that he had to wear a chest plate. Heroic Career Tony realized that his suit was too dangerous to made available to the public, as he had to fight thieves who were attempting to steal parts and make copies of his suit. He became a public hero to the public after stopping a terrorist attack, as he was attending a tennis match with this then fiancé, Joanna Nivena. Stopping the terrorist and being hailed a hero made Tony have a new sense of purpose, and decided to stop evil and villains as Iron Man. Despite enjoying the praise he got as a hero, Tony wished to keep his alter-ego a secret, and told the public that Iron Man was a paid bodyguard that was wearing armor that he invented. Tony only told his most trusted allies of his alter-ego, such as Happy Hogan, who eventually fell in love with Pepper, and later married her. During his early career as a hero, Tony fought spies such as the Actor, the Melter, Mr. Doll, the original Crimson Dynamo, and Mandarin, who became one of his most recurring enemies. The Avengers Iron Man, Ant-Man and Wasp received a transmission that the Norse God Loki made Thor receive, but it was originally called by Rick Jones, who wanted to save the Hulk. Once meeting with the other heroes, Rick managed to convince them to help them, and Tony took them to Stark Industries office in Texas. The heroes battled against the Hulk until Thor came and revealed that Loki was part of the whole ordeal, but the trickster attempted to defeat the heroes. After defeating Loki, the group decided to become a team to stop threats like Loki, and Wasp came up with their name the Avengers. Iron Man invited his allies to use his employer Tony Stark's mansion as their headquarters, which was later dubbed as the Avengers Mansion. Later on, Tony was one of the many who discovered a frozen Captain America, and once unthawing him, he became a member of the Avengers. Also, Tony sponsored the membership of Hawkeye, and later became a member when Stark and other founders decided to take leaves of absence. Over the years, Tony continued to refine and modify the design of his armor, making it more lightweight and less bulky like his original suit. In addition, Tony underwent heart transplant surgery, allowing him to no longer wear the chest plate. Personality Tony Stark is a billionaire, playboy, and philantophist. He does have some bad sides, as he is arrogant, and is a alcoholic. Generally, however, he is a hero, who will risk his life to save others, and will do whatever it takes to protect the universe from threats. Powers Although Tony Stark himself doesn't have super powers, his armor gives him enhanced strength and durability, all thanks to his powered RT Node. It allows him to lift in excess of 100 tons, as well as flight via rocket thrusters. His armor is also equipped with the most advanced technology and weaponry to give him an advantage over the mega villains he battles. The armor is also considered as the most sophisticated piece of technology in the mankind. When injected with Extremis virus, he is granted his body a regenerative ability and a increased sense of strength and speed which gave him an advantage of enhanced manueravility and retain rates. It is also frequently associated with his Extremis armor which forms around his body. Love-Interests *Pepper Potts *Janet van Dyne *Natasha Romanoff *Nan *Babs *Cynthia *Janice Cord *Meredith McCall *Sunset Bain *Whitney Frost *Marianne Rogers *Joanna Nivena *Bethany Cabe *Brie Daniels *Heather Glenn *Rae LaCoste *Indries Moomji *Kathy Dare *Su Yin *Veronica Benning *Rumiko Fujikawa *Calista Hancock *Anna Wei Quotes }} Trivia *Ranked 3rd in The Top 50 Avengers. *Ranked 12th on IGN's Top Comic Book Heroes in 2011. *Stan Lee based Stark's personality on Howard Hughes. *His last name "Stark" means "strong" in several languages. *As of Iron Man Vol 4 # 7, he is the 36th richest man in the world. *As an Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, he had an Ultimate Clearance level. *Tony has three doctorates, and is skilled in mechanical and electrical engineering. *Iron Man was the first human to posses and use the Infinity Gauntlet, but Mr. Fantastic wore it first, but didn't use it. *In the Amalgam comics and universe, Iron Man was combined with Green Lantern, and his name was Harold Stark, and superhero identity was Iron Lantern. *He is similar to Batman from DC comics: **Both are wealthy businessmen. **Both are close to their butlers. **Both are founding members of superhero groups (The Avengers and Justice League). **Both have fought a superhero that are their allies (Captain America and Superman). 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